Extracting and drying system



Dem 7, 1937. E. A. STIENEN EXTRACTING AND DRYING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 2'7, 1954 I INVENTOR IR/vwr ,4. ST/E/VEA/ ATTO RN EY Patented Dec. 7, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT dmee 2,101,461 v EXTRACTING AND name SYSTEM Ernest A. sum, New York, N. r. Application December 27, 1984, Serial No. 759,343

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the drying of textile -materials, for example, such as wool, silk or cotton threads or yarns or artificial filaments or goods made from any of them, and more particularly to an improved method for drying yarns, etc., which is especially adapted for use in the drying of the yarns, etc., in the wound or warp form, which have been subjected to washing, dyeing or other Wet treatments. 4

It has been the practice in the drying of such materials to subject them toan initial treatment, such as dripping, centrifuging, etc., for the separation of free water, followed by drying in cabinet-driers with hot air ventilators. In recent years vacuum pumps have been used for extracting moisture and hot air blowers have been used as driers. With such procedures,

however, relatively low vacuums were used and the products, after extraction, contained considerable quantities of moisturafor example, as high as 80%, it being necessary to complete the drying by the use of cabinet-driers or hot air blowers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus whereby a great improvement in drying may be accomplished. A further object is to provide an economical procedure whereby the drying of textile materials may be greatly hastened and facilitated. It'is also an objectto provide an'improvement in the supplying of heat to the material being dried. Other objects will become apparent.

I have found that by subjecting the textile material-to a very'much higher degree of vacuum than has heretofore been used, for example, a vacuum such as may be obtained by the use of a steam jet ejector, for instance, a vacuum of 20 to 29% inches of mercury and preferably above inches of mercury, the drying of the fila'ments may be very greatly facilitated. Still greater improvement may be obtained by bleeding air or other inert gas into the chamber in which the drying takes place, the bleeding being at such a rate as to maintain a vacuum within the range indicated above. A further improvement may beaccomplished by heating or warming the air or other inert gas bled into the drying chamber or by providing a heating element, such as an electric resistance element or a steam 55 whereupon the live steam becomes highly superor hot water jacket or coil, within'the chamber- (01. two) heated and, when it is drawn through the textile material, transfers a portion of its sensible heat to the material beingdried. A

In describing the invention, reference will be made to the drawing in which Figure 1 is a dia- 5 grammatic illustration of an embodiment of the apparatus described, the several containers being shown in section to illustrate the arrangement. inside.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the drying chamber, illustrating the heating means within the chamber.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure a modified form of heating means.

Figure 4 is an elevation of an arrangement by which yarn wound on spools may be dried.

The numeral I designates the casing of the drying unit, which casing is closed at one end by the bottom wall or closure 2 and at the other a or top end by the removable cover 3. The body 20 of yarn being dried is, in the instance illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, wound upon a hollow perforated iron beam 4, as illustrated at 5. The perforated iron beam has an imperforate extension 6 at each end, the lower one of which registers with an outlet 1 in the lower head 2 of the casing. Imperforate flanges 8 are also provided at each end and the upper end of the hollow core of the.

iron beam may be closed during the drying operation by a removable cover 9. With this arrangement any air drawn from the core must pass through the yarn body. The outlet 1 communicates, through a pipe III, with the intake side of a steam jet evacuator II, which is of well known construction and may be of sufficient capacity to produce the desired degree of vacuum'. The steam may be supplied to the evacuator through the line [2 and may be discharged through the outlet l3 into a container or condenser l4 including a cooling coil l5, whereby the steam used in the jet may be condensed and the resulting water may be discharged through the outlet l6 and used in subsequent washings or in making up solutions for-treatment of the yarn or for other uses. Y

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, live steam is introduced into theportion of the. casing surrounding the body 'of yarn being dried while a vacuum of 20 to 29 inches of mercury, preferably 2'? to 29 inches, is being applied to the inside of the core. This steam may be supplied, for example, through a pipe "and distributed around the material being dried .by means of the perforated pipes l8. Other suitable means may, of course, be provided for intro- 2 showing ducing the 'steam so as to give the'desired degree of uniformity of its distribution over the surface of the material being dried.

When steam is introduced during the drying,- A

denser may be provided with a cooling coil 20,

the outletend of which, if desired, may be connected to the inlet end of the c 'oil IS. A discharge pipe 2! leads to a container 22 for coliecting the condensate which may be used as indicated above in describing the condenser l4.

With this arrangement the steam introduced'into the casing I may be condensed and removed before reaching the steam evacuator ll, thus reducing, the capacity required in the latter to that sufilcient to withdraw the air from the casing and maintain the desired degree of vacuum.

In some instances it may be desirable to bleed air into the casing during the drying, with or without the steam. This may be accomplished by means of an inlet pipe 23 having a valve 24 2 and communicating with the atmosphere or with some other source of inert gas. A heater 25, heated, for example, by a steam coil 26, or other suitable means, maybe provided to warm the air entering the casing. Y

Also, if desired, a heating element may be provided within the casing I. Since the negative pressure greatly retards the conduction of heat,

the heating element should be either in contact or substantially in contact with the metal beam or core upon which the material is wound or- .with the yarn body or should be so placed that the air or steam drawn through the material will pass through the heating element. In Figure 2 a heating element is illustrated in the form of a steam coil 21 permanently positioned in the casing I so as to fit close to the surface of the material being dried when the beam 4 is introduced. This coil will supply heat 'to the material being dried and also will serve to heat the steam or 46 air drawn through the material being dried. In Figure 3 a heating element is illustrated which is formed by having the perforated walls 28 of the core of the beam spaced apart and providing a steam or-electric heating element 29 within the space between the walls. Such a heating element would have to be connected to and disconnected from the source of heat when the beam is placed in and removed from the casing. If desired, both of these heating elements may be used together or other suitable heating means may be provided. For example, the flanges 8 beam sufliciently tightly to require a vacuum of 27 to 29 inches of mercury to draw air through the filaments wound on the beam. The core of the beam may be connected through the pipe 10 to the steam jet l l and the vacuum applied, Weferably as high as 29 inches of mercury. With the cover 9 in the position shown in Figure l, the negative pressure will apply directly to the 1 wound filaments through the perforations in the beam 4. If desired,,heat may be applied to the beam or material on the beam during the dryins.

by means of the electric or steam heating unit or other suitable heating means.

The procedure may also be used with a less tightly wound'body of yarn by closing the cover I and the valve 24. The high vacuum of 2'7 to 29 5 inches of mercury .within the casing I will cause the water to quickly vaporize at ordinary temperatures. The drying may be further hastened by the use of the heating elements within the casing and close to the yarn body, as previously 10 described. I a

The drying may also be hastened by bleeding air into the casing through the pipe 23 and the valve 24. As an example, a vacuum of 29 inches of mercury may be applied by the steam evacl5 uator II and the valve 24 may be opened sufficiently to give a vacuum of about 27 inches of mercury within the casing I. If necessary, heat may be applied to the air drawn into the casing, either before or after it enters the casing, by 20 drawing the air through a heating element before it passes through the material being dried.

It is preferred, however, to carry out the drying by introducing dry live steam into the casing I while the vacuum 01320 to 29% inches of mer- 25 cury is applied, thus causing the steam to become highly superheated and to pass through the textile material being dried, whereupon it will give up a portion of its heat to the material being dried. Ordinarily additional heating means will 30 not be required when the steam is used, but if it is, it may be applied within the casing, as hereinbefore described, preferably in such a manner that the steam passes through heating ele-. ment before it is drawn through the textile ms.- 35 terial.

The use of steam as the heating element has the important advantage over the use of air in that the steam may be condensed and removed before it reaches the evacuator, thus requiring 4o less capacity in the evacuator. If desired, the steam and air may be used together or other condensable vapors may be used in place of the steam. 4

In the figures I have illustrated the vacuum 5 as applied to the core. If desired; the connections l 0 and 23 may be reversed and the vacuum applied to the space surrounding the material to be dried, thus drawing the moisture toward the outside of the body of yarn. In that event an 50 arrangement as shown in Figure 3 is preferred in which the heating element is within the core. Also, with such an arrangement it would be preferable to introduce the steam into the space within the core; 55

In carrying out my improved procedure. very greatly improved results in the drying may be obtained at a greatly decreased cost.- The very high degree of vacuum used in my process permits of the drying at unusually low tempera- 00 tur'es, whereby the deleterious effect of higher temperatures applied to the material may be avoided. Very greatly increased rates of drying ,may be accomplished with only a very slight addition 'of heat. 65

In the modifications illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, I have shown the invention as applied to a body of yarn w6und upon an iron beam. It

may also be applied to the treatment of yarn wound upon perforated bobbins, as illustrated in 70 communicates with the outlet line I 0, as hereinbefore described. Also, the improvement may be applied to loose yarn, for example, by centrifugally separating the free water from the loose yarn in skeins, etc. and placing the perforated cage of the centrifugal separator or other perforated container for the yarn being dried, within the casing l. Means for applying such vacuum to spin cakes and loose filaments are well known and so are not described herein.

It is obvious that many variations may be made in the procedure described and it is not intended to limit it to the particular embodiments'referred to herein. The terms used in describing the invention have been used in their descriptive sense and not as terms of limitation and it is intended that all equivalents thereof be 1. The combination of a casing having a bot- I tom wall and a cover for a material to be dried. a hollow perforated beam in the casing bearing on its bottom wall for supporting the material to be dried, a pipe to lead an inert gas into the casing, means to heat said inert gas before entering the casing, perforated piping to lead steam into the casing, a steam coil in'the'casing, a pipe leading from an opening in the bottom wall of the casing, a pre-cooling condenser connected to the latter pipe to condense steam flowing therethrough, a discharge pipe extending from said pre-cooling condenser to lead condensed steam therefrom, a steam jet evacuator for producing a vacuum in the casing, a pipe connecting the precooling condenser and the steam jetevacuator, an outlet extending from the steam jet evacuator, a condenser connected to said outlet, a cooling coil in the latter condenser and an outlet for the latter condenser.

2. The combination ofa casing for a material to be dried, a detachable cover for the casing, a

V closure or bottom wall having an outlet opening at the lower end of the casing, a hollow perforated beam in the casing to support the material to be dried, an extension at the top end and an extension at the bottom end of the beam, a removable cover for the extension atthe top end of the beam, the extension at the bottom end of the beam supported upon the closure at the bottom end of the casing, a pipe to lead air into the upper portion of the casing, a heater connected to said pipe, a steam coil in the heater, perforated piping to lead steam into the casing, a pipe leading fromthe opening in the closure at the bottom end of the casing, a. pre-cooling condenser connected to the latter pipe to condense steam flowing therethrough, a cooling coil in the pre-cooling condenser, a discharge pipe extending from said condenser, a container connected to said discharge pipe to collect condensed steam, a steam jet evacuator for producing a vacuum in the easing, a pipe connecting said condenser and steam jet evacuator, an outlet extending from the steam jet evacuator, a condenser connected to said outlet, a cooling coil in the latter condenser and an outlet for the latter condenser.

' ERNEST A. STIENEN. 

